Goodbyes
by vegemite
Summary: ObiWan reflects on all the goodbyes he's gone through as he delivers Luke to Owen and Beru. A bit of Obidala.


**Title: **Goodbyes

**Author: **vegemite

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Obi-Wan reflects on all the goodbyes he's gone through as he delivers Luke to Owen and Beru. A bit of Obidala.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it. I just...don't.

**A/N: **This was a challenge I happened across at an Obidala site, Tangled Web. I do apologise for the non-Obidala-ness of what was probably intended as a very 'shippy challenge, but this _is_ my first challenge ever. The challenge was this:

Obviously must include Obi-Wan and Padme and must include seven or more of the following:  
(1) A dark cave  
(2) A green lightsaber  
(3) A gold necklace  
(4) The Words: _"One last time"_  
(5) A red headdress  
(6) A protocal droid NOT Threepio or any other known protocal droid  
(7) A black tunic  
(8) The character Bail Organa Viceroy of Alderaan  
(9) A photograph of Padme's mother  
(10) A landspeeder

**Goodbyes **

The suns were beginning to set on Tatooine as Obi-Wan got off the ship that Bail Organa had loaned to him. Carrying Luke in his arms, he watched as the ship lifted off and went on its automated journey into space, where it would meet up with a larger ship and travel back to Alderaan. Obi-Wan quickly mounted the pack creature that was waiting for him, paying the alien who was holding it. He kicked it in the sides, urging it to begin their journey across the sand dunes. He made sure to shield young Luke's face from the sand kicked up by the beast.

The creature seemed to settling into a rhythm at an acceptable speed, so he let his mind wander. He was about to give up Padmé's son – he didn't bother thinking about him as Anakin's. And he'd already given up Leia…

_"My wife and I have always talked of adopting a baby girl." _

_Obi-Wan knew that Bail Organa would be a good father. And he knew that Yoda was right – the babies were too powerful to be kept together. But somehow, he couldn't help but think that this wasn't what Padmé would want for her children. _

_He made sure to voice his concerns to Bail before he left. _

_"I understand, Master Kenobi. You were…close to her. But I truly believe that Yoda is right. And I will treat Leia as if she were my own daughter." _

_"I suppose that is all I can ask. But…also raise her as if she were Padmé's daughter. Prepare her for what might come." _

_Organa placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "I will." Then he left, taking Leia with him. _

_It was the last time he saw Padmé's daughter._

Obi-Wan shook the thought from his head. It was another in a long line of goodbyes that had begun with the very first day he knew he would have to train Anakin…

_Obi-Wan was stuck, and he didn't know how he was going to get out of this one. The Sith was above him, looking down with an expression of hatred as the Jedi struggled to hang on to the small metal knob and avoid being plunged into a reactor. He could hear Qui-Gon wheezing over on the floor, and the notion that is master might die caused more anger to surge through him. He knew he was dangerously close to the dark side, and tried to calm himself. But the thought of Qui-Gon reminded him that he still had one weapon at his disposal._

_Concentrating, he tugged with the force, until the weapon was in his hand. Igniting the green blade, he flipped over the Dark Jedi and sliced him cleanly in half, a look of surprise frozen on his face. The body fell over the edge of the large hole and into the reactor, frying on contact._

_Shutting off the blade, he ran to Qui-Gon's side. As soon as he was there, he knew that it was hopeless, but still he held onto his master's hands as he died, and promised him his last wish, an utterance that the younger Jedi train Anakin Skywalker. It was all he could do as Qui-Gon slipped from him, into a pure Force-being._

_He knew he should be fine with this – that he should, in fact, be happy for Qui-Gon, as he was now one with the Force. But he couldn't, because the one person who had been a constant in the last decade of his life was gone. Gone._

_The worst part was that Qui-Gon had been so preoccupied with the boy that Obi-Wan hadn't gotten to say a real goodbye._

The suns were dipping further, beginning to color the sky oranges, yellows, and pinks. And red. Blood red, the color that he'd seen just a day ago…

No.

But it was too late. He'd given himself in to the memory of what he'd done.

_They fought._

_It was a bitter, awful battle, physically demanding and emotionally draining as Obi-Wan fought the man he'd come to call brother. But he wasn't his brother anymore. He had to destroy this man, as he'd destroyed a Sith once before, as he destroyed other men, aliens, droids. He had to think of this one as no different._

_But he couldn't. Because while he knew that Anakin no longer existed inside this new Darth Vader, he couldn't help but see his former apprentice's face. The only difference between now and then was that the rage that had been stored beneath it had risen to the surface in a blazing inferno._

_"It's over Anakin. I have the high ground." Obi-Wan stopped feeling everything--all the pain, all the betrayal--to focus on this wish that Anakin would stop this madness and listen to reason._

_But Obi-Wan should have known better than to think that, and he was forced to cut Anakin down when he foolishly tried an attack. Bloody and limbless, Anakin screamed at him, words of hatred and anger as he picked up the lightsaber of his former padawan. Obi-Wan knew he truly was a creature of darkness now._

_"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you."_

_The tunic, black as his heart, caught fire and Obi-Wan couldn't bear to watch. As he turned away, he said goodbye to Anakin for the last time._

The homestead was a spot on the horizon, and the suns were descending even faster. The crimson color crept even further into the sky, pulling at the blue with bloody fingers. The memory of his hardest goodbye hit him now.

_They began their affair a week after Qui-Gon's death._

_Both of them were raw from emotional wear and tear. Obi-Wan knew he wasn't quite ready for Anakin's training to begin, so he sent the boy to Coruscant with Yoda for a little catch-up with the younglings. Padmé had been given a few weeks off in the wake of the Trade Federation crisis. The Nubian Senate had remembered she was only fourteen after all. He stayed in her palace. They were young. They were meant to be relaxing. They were together._

_It was no surprise to either of them that they fell in love._

_The first moment he'd known he loved her, they'd been walking in a garden, and she dropped a golden necklace. None of her handmaidens were around, so he bent over to pick it up. He made a big deal about it, causing her to laugh. It was as she had the light of laughter in her eyes that he rose and was captured by them. He knew he was in love, and he did the most natural thing that came to him at that moment._

_He kissed her._

_They knew it wouldn't work, and they knew it wouldn't continue, and it hung over their relationship constantly. And so, every time they kissed, they both treasured the moment._

_When it was time for him to leave, they promised each other they would try not to make it difficult. But as he saw her on the landing platform, face framed by a headdress of a rich red color that contrasted with her sad eyes perfectly, he couldn't hold himself back from running to her and gathering her in his arms. She cried quietly into his shoulder for a long moment before they both drew back._

_"One last time?" she asked, and he pulled her lips to his in a shaky goodbye kiss._

He dismounted, carrying Luke carefully in his arms. Beru took him, smiling gently, and she went over to her husband, Owen. Obi-Wan was hopeful that they would take good care of their nephew.

And perhaps this didn't have to his last goodbye, he thought, smiling. If Luke was anything like Anakin had been, he'd be sure to make good use of that landspeeder parked outside the house when he got older. 


End file.
